Just Six Days
by simplystardust
Summary: "Now he had six days, locked in a room with Her, to make the Her in question fall in love with Him. Like he said, piece of cake."  A Zailey love/hate story. One boy, one girl, one dare. R&R please
1. The Dare

***Disclaimer* I don't own The Suite Life on Deck or any of the characters, much as I'd LOVE to, and the only thing I own is the plot.  
>A kindasorta fluffy story about Zack and Bailey, life and death and everything between, where they are actually put in a life-and-death situation... sorta, anyway.<br>Pure, honest Zailey from this point in, but maybe I'll be nice and pair off some of the other characters.  
>Anyway! Enough babbling, enjoy the story!<br>Love and hugs,  
>-Amy x<strong>

Six days.  
>He had just six days.<br>Sure, it should've been seven, but he'd put off doing anything the first day. He had his reasons... the deadly virus that was potentially coursing through his veins being a big one, but there were smaller reasons, too.  
>Like the fact that it was Her, always with a capital H, and he was Him, and the other Him was Her Boyfriend.<br>Not that Her Boyfriend was here, or anywhere near here... He was too much of a wimp to dare enter the now-sealed-off room where Zack had found himself trapped with Her.  
>Six days.<br>He, Zackary Dylan Martin, had just six days to make Her, Bailey Debby Pickett, fall in love with him. Piece of cake, he was sure. Not that He liked Her that way...  
>In all honesty?<br>He blamed London. 

_Marcus sat at the smoothie counter, eyes narrowed at Zack as he waited for him to answer. Zack, however, seemed less interested in their game than Marcus, and was more preoccupied watching the bikini-clad girls lounging on the deckchairs.  
>"Zack!" Marcus broke Zack's concentration "Truth or dare?"<br>Zack's eyes rolled at the distraction, then sighed,  
>"Dare."<br>Marcus smirked, eyes glittering, and glanced around the deck for inspiration. He clocked a couple sitting a distance away, heads together as they studied the same textbook, and got an idea. A dare so brilliant, that even legendary dare-master Zackary Martin wouldn't be able to complete.  
>"I dare you to..." Marcus paused, trying to add tension "Make Bailey fall in love with you"<br>Zack's eyes narrowed, his mind being pulled in several directions. On the one hand, Bailey was his brother's girlfriend, and that would be cruel. On the other hand, it WAS a good dare, and Zack never shied away from good dares.  
>And that's when London got involved.<br>Strutting up to the smoothie counter, dressed head-to-toe in red sequins, she was a formidable presence for such a short, skinny girl.  
>"...And you've only got a week to do it" Marcus concluded his dare smugly.<br>"What's who only got a week to do?" London interrupted before Zack could speak.  
>Marcus turned to London, looking coyly at her, and answered<br>"I've dared Zack to make Bailey fall in love with him in a week"  
>London looked surprised, then exploded in a fit of laughter<br>"You're not serious, are you? Look at how she's dressed, the girl obviously has NO sense" London smirked, sneering at Bailey's sensible jeans, tee, and white converse whilst stroking her own dazzling outfit.  
>"Besides, I thought she and Cody were still all loved up in smart-person world?"<br>Marcus' smile grew wider.  
>"They are, that's why Zack's not going to be able to do it"<br>"Ooh!" London squealed "I'll make it more interesting! Do it, and I'll give you $1000"  
>Zack looked stunned.<br>"Why would you do that?"  
>London rolled her eyes<br>"Because I'm sick of Bailey always going on about Cody." She imitated Bailey's accent, badly, "Oh, Cody's so cute, and so smart! He could be a 5-star chef, or a doctor, or a scientist, or anything else. We're going to live together, and get married, and have three children, blah blah blah"  
>London's previously sour expression suddenly brightened and she smiled at Zack again<br>"So, $1000 for getting rid of THAT? Go ahead"  
>With that, she pulled out her chequebook, wrote a cheque for $1000, handed it to Marcus, and flounced off.<em>

So it really was all London's fault.  
>The reason he'd gone through with the dare, that is.<br>Being stuck in a quarantined cabin because Miss Tutweiller hadn't explained that the flask in the supply closet he'd been playing catch with contained _Cryptococcus gattii_, a potentially deadly virus, and so shouldn't be smashed...  
>That was his fault.<br>Bailey being stuck in there with him though... Well, she shouldn't have got involved and come to see what he was doing, distracting him and causing the flask to slip through his fingers and smash on the ground.  
>So it was Her fault too.<br>And now...  
>Now he had six days, locked in a room with Her, to make the Her in question fall in love with Him. Like he said, piece of cake.<em><em>

**So, how will things go in the quarantine? And moreover, how does Zack plan to do the impossible in just six days?  
>Sugar, <strong>**spice, ****and everything nice for readers and reviewers!  
>Much love, guys!<strong>


	2. Day One

**Thanks for reading so far, guys! It's really appreciated, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings, if you'd be so kind as to leave them!  
>I quite like this chapter, it went better than I expected, and it looks more into the different relationships, and the characters develop a bit more...<br>Sorry, babbling again!  
>Read, enjoy, review if you want<br>Love and snuggles,  
>-Amy x<br>**It'd been an hour, and he was already sure this dare was going to be impossible. She was just so... unrealistic, so inhumanly perfect that trying to seduce (if that was the right word) Her would be more difficult than trying to climb a mountain with nothing more than a pair of socks and a can of deodorant! When their things had been brought in, via Mr Moseby in a germ-proof suit, she'd actually FOLDED her clothes and put them away, and started on Her homework!  
>Zack? He'd thrown his clothes in a drawer, grabbed his iPod, and lounged on his bed, secretly watching Her as she worked on the homework he'd most likely ignore. Oh crap. She was looking, well glaring, at him, Her chestnut eyes blazing with anger-annoyance-fury as Her mouth moved. Zack smirked; Her words were soundless against The All-American Rejects that were blasting through his headphones. Huh, he'd thought she was smart, but if she couldn't even see the headphones that were glaringly obviously in his ears, there was something wrong with Her.<br>Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed the room way faster than he'd thought she could, Her hand grabbing the headphones and yanking them out his ears  
>"Zack!" Bailey shouted "Are you actually going to do anything, or are you just going to stare at me?"<br>He almost blushed, then his brain seemed to wake up as he realised the brilliant opportunity this presented  
>"Sorry" he said, his voice lower than normal, "But can you blame me?"<br>He winked, and the look on Her face was priceless. Shocked, pale, and... Disgusted? Did she really hate him that much?  
>"So Kansas," Zack barely escaped stuttering "What you up to?"<br>She rolled Her eyes, and walked back towards the desk, Zack's iPod in hand.  
>"Homework" she snapped "Y'know, that thing you should be doing?"<br>Zack made his eyes twinkle, replying  
>"But Kansas, if I did my homework, what would you do later on?"<br>Bailey threw him a filthy look, Her usually pretty face contorting, as she picked up three books from the desk and threw them onto his bed.  
>"I guess I could just listen to this?" She waved his iPod tauntingly, then slowly and deliberately placed the headphones in Her ears, leaning back in Her chair.<p>

"_So what's the deal with this Bailey chick?" Zack asked, watching Cody flit around his cabin as he tidied up.  
>"Don't call her a chick! She's a lady" Cosy snapped "And will you get off my bed, I just made it"<br>Zack sighed, but rolled off his twins bed, kinda-sorta-deliberately ripping the duvet off.  
>"Whatever, she's hot and she wears a skirt" Zack stretched "So she's a chick"<br>Cody shoved his brother aside, carefully remaking his bed, whilst glaring at his brother.  
>"Stop it! What are you, jealous or something? Because I'm with someone I actually care about, and all you can get are day-long flings?"<br>Zack was stunned – Cody had never called him out like that before, and he'd never intentionally tried to hurt him before.  
>"Dude, what's she done to you?"<br>Cody didn't answer, but his stony face was enough. Raising his arms defensively, Zack walked towards the door, not breaking eye contact with Cody.  
>"Seriously, I mean it, Codes. She's changed you, and it's not a good change"<br>Cody's face was expressionless,  
>"I'm happy, Zack, maybe you don't recognize it in me. Weird, huh?"<br>It felt like Cody had punched him in the gut. Wordlessly, Zack walked out the cabin and towards his own, silently thanking whatever deity existed that it was empty as he slumped onto his bed.  
>Then Zack felt something he hadn't in years – the burning prickling of tears behind his eyes. He ignored them, focusing instead on the hatred that was burning a hole in his chest. Hatred for Miss-Perfect-Bailey-Pickett, and the change she'd induced in his brother. From that day on, Bailey had become merely 'Her'.<em>

__

Zack studied the same person that had not long ago spiked such strong feelings of hatred, this time with curiosity in his gaze. It wasn't difficult to see why Cody loved her so much – she was beautiful, smart, funny, and it was obvious she was going places. But... surely she wasn't that two-dimensional? Surely there was something other than the perfect image she put out?  
>He found out that there was in fact something more, and this knowledge came just a few hours later.<p>

"It's half 10! Why are you getting ready for bed?" Zack exclaimed, watching Her collect pyjamas from under Her pillow and head to the bathroom to get changed (she'd never dare get changed in front of a _boy_).  
>"Yes, and tomorrow we've got school, so we're up early"<br>He'd grumbled, of course, and fought against Her every effort to turn off the light, but he'd given in eventually; even if it was just because he was amazed that the oh-so-perfect Bailey didn't wear make-up, as he'd thought she must've. Plus he was tired.  
>So he got ready for bed, and turned the light off himself, and got settled. Except... he couldn't settle fully, for some unknown reason. Then, about an hour after turning off the light, he figured it out – Bailey, perfect-grades-perfect-face-perfect-girl Bailey, was crying.<br>He couldn't help himself from getting out of bed, or crossing the room, or kneeling next to Her bed, and he didn't seem to be able to stop himself from putting his hand on Her arm comfortingly  
>"Hey Kansas?" he regretted using his nickname for Her almost instantly, but she didn't seem to mind "What's wrong?"<br>She sat up, brushing Her hand against the tears trickling down Her cheeks, and half-smiled at him. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked in the moonlight that danced through the porthole, the silvery light emphasising Her delicate features  
>"I..." She stumbled over Her words "I don't want to die, Zack! I don't want this virus in my system, and I don't... I don't want to die"<br>His heart gave an unexpected lurch and, seemingly subconsciously, he sat on Her bed and wrapped his arm around Her shaking shoulders.  
>"Shh... It's okay, I promise" He soothed<br>She didn't reply, but let him comfort Her. When Her sobs subsided, he made to go back to his own bed, but Her hand grabbed him back.  
>"Stay with me... please?" She asked, desperation in Her voice.<br>He obliged, lying down awkwardly beside Her and wrapping his arms around Her small frame, feeling Her head burrow against his chest. It didn't take long for Her breathing to slow down, become steadier, and he smiled.

Day one had gone better than he could have thought possible.

**Ooh... Maybe Bailey doesn't hate Zack as much as he thinks? And what's going to happen in the morning?  
>I'll update as soon as I can, for my lovely readers :')<br>Cyber chocolate chip cookies for any and all reviewers, I love you guys!  
>-Amy x<strong>


	3. Day Two  Part One

**Hello!  
>Well, I'm not going to ruin it for you, but I'm going to just say that this chapter might have some actual Zailey for the first time! <strong>

**I think I'm going to really need some feedback on this chapter though, since I wrote it at about 3AM, and it probably makes next to no sense... (:  
>One thing as well, <strong>**warrior-of-water****, I'm just going to clear it up that the whole virus thing is just because I needed to somehow get them both in the same room for a while (:  
><strong>**Zaddie-Mad, ****enjoy your cyber cookies *passes you them*  
>Anyway, read, enjoy, review if you want!<br>-Amy x**

For all her careful time managing during the day, Zack was surprised to find out that he'd actually woken before Her. Surprised and slightly curious, for it was the first time he'd ever slept with a girl, even if it was in the loosest of terms, he studied Her sleeping presence. She was pretty in the early morning light, and Her face seemed to glow warmly in the rising sun. Her increased appearance, however, was not the reason he was watching Her. He couldn't exactly look away, because of the way they were curled up together. Yes, for this once, there didn't seem to be any way he could think of Her darkly. Maybe it was the innocence that radiated from Her face as she slept, or maybe the slight smile that graced Her lips as she dreamed about something unknown (and probably Cody-related). Maybe though, just maybe, he couldn't think of Her in a negative way because she was currently so close to him, with Her head nestled into the crook of his neck and the sweet coconut scent of Her hair wafting towards him with every minute movement. It had felt entirely natural, whilst he was still half-asleep, to wrap his arms around Her waist to increase his own comfort. Now though, he was beginning to feel awkward, but he knew full well that moving would probably wake Her and she'd, of course, freak out at their close proximity. So he was stuck.  
>With his brother's girlfriend in his arms.<br>Being forced to smell Her hair.  
>And for some reason noticing how nice she looked.<br>A natural beauty, that was truly the only way to describe Her appearance; Whilst Zack wasn't against going after the hot girls who slathered themselves in make-up and wore outfits that were barely there, he appreciated a girl like Bailey, who didn't need to make an effort with how she looked.  
>But Her hair, however nice-smelling, was definitely fluffy in a morning. He had to seriously try and stop himself from sneezing.<p>

_Thunder crashed outside the window of the suite, and Zack knew what to expect. Instinctively, the minute he heard the first rumble of thunder in the distance, he'd moved to the edge of his bed, leaving enough room for Cody to crawl in.  
>It was inevitable, really. For all his knowledge of the likelihood of getting hurt during a storm, Cody remained terrified of them and even now, despite being 14; still felt the need to share a bed with Zack whenever a storm threatened. Not that Zack minded – he liked that Cody still needed him. It was taking him a while to come over though, the storm had already been going for at least 5 minutes, and it was beginning to rage.<br>'Must be trying to get over being scared' Zack thought.  
>Six minutes passed.<br>Seven minutes.  
>Eight minutes...<br>"I'm sorry" Cody whispered as he climbed into Zack's bed, succumbing at last._

"_It's fine, bro, now get some sleep" Zack whispered back, already nearly asleep_

_The storm had blown itself out of existence by the next morning and, for once, Zack was awake first. And Cody's hair was shoved in his face. It was soft, and smelt like vanilla, but it tickled him something chronic. He wasn't trying to not sneeze, and he did.  
>Right into Cody's face.<br>Accidentally, of course.  
>But... Cody had evidentially forgotten that he'd slept in Zack's bed, because he obviously wasn't expecting to find anyone next to him. As his eyes shot open, he screamed as he saw Zack and, trying to get out of bed as quickly as possible, tangled his legs in the sheets and crashed to the floor.<br>Zack could barely breathe for laughing._

He couldn't help but shake with repressed laughter at the memory of normally-pin-neat Cody lying on the floor, covered in bedding. The gentle shaking, however, was apparently enough to bring Her to a state of near-consciousness. Her lilac-tinted eyelids flickered, Her hair tickling his face as she moved Her head up, but Her eyes remained half-shut.  
>"Momma, I don't wanna wake up yet" She muttered, bringing an arm up to rub Her eyes.<br>"Bailey?" Zack questioned, his voice cracking slightly from first-time usage that morning.  
>Her eyes opened some more, but the cinnamon-hued irises didn't seem to be focussing on anything. Blinking a few times, she smiled, looking suddenly oddly impish.<br>"Good morning" She smiled, eyes closing again.  
>She stretched out slowly, and he could feel every muscle uncurl itself, and every joint crack. It wasn't gross though, as he became quickly dumbfounded by how strongly built she felt against him, for such a slender girl.<br>Her smile grew wider, and she leant up on Her arms, facing towards Zack with Her eyes still shut. Half opening them, she leant forward and kissed him gently, sweetly, on the lips. The kiss lasted no longer than 5 seconds before she pulled back, still smiling  
>"How'd you sleep, Cod-" She froze, mid-sentence, as Her vision finally cleared "Zack?" she squealed, ripping herself from his arms, and standing in front of Her own bed.<br>"What are you doing in my..." Realisation dawned on her face and, without another word, she all but ran into the bathroom.  
>Zack slumped back onto Her pillows, inhaling Her scent, and trying to figure out why his heart was racing and his lips were tingling.<p>

**Ooh, don't hate me for leaving you on a cliffhanger!  
>I reckon this chapter is pretty much crying out for reviews, so please and thank you if you do (:<br>And I'll be updating the second half of the day super soon!  
>Hugs and ice-cream (your favourite flavour) for all readers!<br>-Amy x**


	4. Day Two  Part Two

**Hey! I'm not dead, just suffered the **_**dreaded **_**writers block! Thankfully, it seems to have gone, so there'll be new chapters ALL THE TIME! Should be fun! :D**

Cody woke slowly, his hand instinctively reaching for his cell lying next to his pillow, to check for messages. But he didn't have any. Brow furrowing, he double-checked the time, and his frown deepened. His cell clearly displayed the time as 7:20 am, which meant Bailey would've been awake for ten minutes... and she hadn't sent her usual cheery good morning text yet, which was highly unusual her. Shrugging, and mentally blaming Zack, he tapped out his own message:

_"Morning Hay Bale, hope you slept well. I'll miss you in class today, and I'll email you the homework later :) Hope Zack didn't annoy you too much! We'll talk when class is over, miss you already.  
>-Your Codykins xx<em>

On the other side of the ship, Bailey realised all too late that she'd left her phone on her nightstand.  
>In the same room as Zack.<br>She groaned, sinking down the door to sit on the floor, where she buried her head in her hands. It was unbelievable that one moment had changed so much, so quickly, and she lifted her head in order to assess the bathroom in terms of how long she could stay in it before she would need to leave. With a grimace, and a mental curse to her slowly-awakening brain, she realised that it wasn't long at all. An almost silent whimper escaped her throat as she thought of how Zack would react when she eventually left and, eager to distract herself, she hoisted herself of the floor and walked towards the mirror. Her breath came out in a drawn-out sigh as she examined her familiar reflection; her honey coloured hair was tangled and flattened on one side where she'd been lying (on Zack's chest, she remembered, her blood turning to ice momentarily), her skin was overly pale in the bright morning sunshine, and her hazel-hued eyes shone, glazed as they were with undefined tears. Bringing a hand up to attempt to flatten her hair, a random thought flitted through Bailey's mind:  
>'I wonder if Zack thinks I'm pretty...<em>'<em>

_The buttery yellow harvest moon hung suspended high in the sky, nestled in a bed of clouds, and causing a natural spotlight to fall onto an already self-conscious girl. Bailey Pickett was twelve years old, and her doting, overly-protective daddy had finally deemed it acceptable for her to go to the harvest festival dance in a dress, rather than her customary jeans.  
>And she hated the dress already.<br>Not the dress itself, a knee-length red number, but the attention it commandeered.  
>Bailey, being a remarkably bright young girl, understood the changes that were happening to her body and she knew they were uncontrollable, but that still didn't make her comfortable with being leered at by men almost twice her age!<br>There was only one opinion she cared about –that of her best friend, and long-time crush, Moose.  
>She hadn't had to wait long to find it out, either as the minute she'd stepped into the barn, his eyes grew wider then she'd ever seen them before, and her nerves had doubled.<br>"Hot damn girl, you clean up good!" He'd muttered, awe-struck  
>And she'd blushed so hard at the unexpected compliment, she'd almost missed his next comment;<br>"See what happens when you spend less time with your nose in a book? See here, you could almost be as pretty as Sue-Ellen if you did this every day"  
>Stunned, Bailey had from that day made herself a vow that she would never be the type of girl to doll herself up every day, just for the sake of impressing a boy.<em>

With a newly hardened resolve, Bailey brushed all meaningless worries and thoughts out of her mind and grabbed her toothbrush.  
>'What was I thinking' she mentally chided herself 'You've got Cody, perfect Cody... Why should you care about his idiot of a brother?'<br>But despite her mental commentary, part of her mind kept replaying the five seconds that Zack's lips had been on hers, reminding her of just how soft and warm they'd been... With a sigh, she silently prayed that her resolve would be enough to stop from acting like a dork in front of Zack when she eventually left.

**Well, it's taken me weeks, but it's finally up!  
>I'm sorry for making you wait, and SO thankful to everyone who's stayed – seriously, I love you guys :')<br>So, yeah, here it is, and I really hope you enjoy it!  
>Lots of love, snuggles, and other warm-and-fluffy things,<br>-Amy xx**_  
><em>


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